Buckeye boxing club steers kids away from trouble

The steady sound of punching bags, jump ropes and coach-to-athlete instruction reverberates throughout the open two-door garage.

A picture of Muhammad Ali hangs on the wall next to a framed Willy's Boxing Club jersey. The faint smell of a gym wafts from the garage onto the driveway.

The setting is a makeshift gym that Buckeye resident Robert Aceves set up in his garage to house a boxing club he launched. It is designed to get youths involved in a competitive boxing club and give them a positive alternative to drugs, alcohol and gangs. They learn discipline, structure and self-determination.

Aceves, 42, began the training with his two sons and one of their friends in early February. Now the club has grown to 12 participants ages 7 to 19. They meet and train for free after school.

Aceves is pursuing a USA Boxing license so they can compete in tournaments. USA Boxing is the national governing body of amateur boxing.

For Aceves, the vision behind the boxing club is personal. He grew up in Los Angeles and became entrenched in his community's gang life at 15.

He lived "all the whirlwinds" of gang life, he said. He was stabbed and shot and spent about six years in and out of prison.

"After being in prison twice, I started going to church. I wanted something different," Aceves said. "I saw my kids and I knew that if I didn't make a change that there was a good possibility they were going to follow my same footsteps and I didn't want that."

Aceves cleaned up and went inactive in the gang in 2001. He began reaching out to "the very youth and streets" he came from through an outreach boxing club, and the effort succeeded in getting teens off the streets.

Reaching out to youth

After moving to Buckeye in December 2007 with his wife and four children, Aceves said he saw early signs of California-style gang life forming in Buckeye, including drug and alcohol abuse in schools. He started the boxing club to reach out to teens and use his story to "steer these kids in the right direction before they make crucial mistakes."

David Garcia, 18, a senior at Buckeye Union High School, is in the club. Being on the boxing team keeps him in shape and out of trouble.

"When I was younger, I was kind of like a rebel, I guess, just getting into trouble. Not serious things but things like at school," he said. "It would've gotten worse if I didn't get into boxing or anything like this."

One of the youngest members of the boxing club is Tyler Schooley, 11, a fifth-grader at Jasinski Elementary School in Buckeye and Aceves' neighbor. He wanted to do something productive over the summer.

"I don't think I'm going to be doing anything until August so I thought this would be pretty cool to do until then," Tyler said. "I thought I could get some fresh air (and) good exercise."

Aceves' oldest son, Robert Aceves Jr., 19, said he and his brother have boxed with their father since they were little. That, coupled with watching him break free from gangs, showed them there's a better way to live.

"It keeps me out of the riff raff in the streets," the younger Aceves said. "It keeps me off the streets and wanting to do good and push forward to be better at something positive rather than to be better at something negative."

Club growth a challenge

The boxing club has outgrown Aceves' garage, near Miller Road and Southern Avenue, and they're "bursting at the seams," he said. Boxers have to split time between the garage and driveway, rotating the use of conditioning equipment, punching bags and other equipment.

A former carpenter, Aceves funds the club himself, but the needs have outgrown his resources.

"I almost kind of feel like I'm holding them back now because they've been dedicated now for these months and they've gotten into excellent condition, they've showed a lot of promise," he said of the boxers. "But I don't have the money to buy them equipment. I just can't afford all of that out-of-pocket for everybody."

Buckeye Town Councilman Brian McAchran said Aceves' program "reaches out to our most vulnerable citizens." The two are working closely to find a building for the boxing club.

But it hasn't been easy. They have encountered roadblocks with every vacant building they tried to get into because of conflicts between building owners and the town's code enforcement department, McAchran said.

"The biggest issue right now is trying to find him a building. (Aceves) is somewhat on a shoestring budget, and . . . money is tight for everybody," he said. "He is to the point that he's training them in his garage. He's not giving up. And I'm beating the bushes everywhere to see what we can shake out."

Buckeye police Cmdr. Phil Harris is helping Aceves by connecting him with town officials, businesses and other community leaders.

"He's doing this out of the goodness of his heart and I know that to date it has cost him quite a bit of money, so it's not something that he's doing to get rich on," Harris said. "He's doing it to serve. He's doing it to give back to the community."

McAchran urged the community to step up to help, whether by donating equipment, money or space.

"He needs a building. He needs monetary and equipment support. Not a lot, but it is a sport," he said. "Like football or anything else, there are equipment needs that goes with it."